Bride kin killed in Bokaro mishap

The mangled car after the accident near Balidih in Bokaro on Monday. Picture by Pankaj singh

A pre-wedding bash took a tragic turn when two relatives of the bride died in an accident near Balidih, about 16km from Bokaro steel city, in the small hours of Monday.

An unidentified truck hit the car (JH10AB 3114) in which the two, along with four others, were travelling on NH-23 around 1am.

The deceased have been identified as Sanjay Rana (29), who was driving the car, and Raja Prasad (39), who was seated beside him.

Four others on the back seat — Yogendra Ram, Amit Kumar, Girija Shankar Pandey and Akhileshwar Ram — sustained critical injuries. They are currently fighting for their lives at Bokaro General Hospital.

According to police, S.K. Ravani, father of the bride and a resident of Dhanbad’s Katras, with relatives in tow, arrived at the groom’s house at Jaina More for the tilak ceremony on Sunday.

After completion of the puja and late-night dinner, everyone stayed back, except the six who decided to drive back to Dhanbad. A little after midnight, the six left for Katras, 46km from Jaina More, despite the groom’s family requesting them to stay back.

Hardly had the car covered 6km when a speeding truck, coming from the other direction, collided with the car. The car was dragged more than 100 metres away on the impact of the collision. However, one of the injured managed to call up a relative who was staying over at Jaina More. On reaching the accident spot, the family members found two dead and four unconscious.

Officer-in-charge of Balidih police station B. Singh said: “A case has been lodged against the truck driver, who escaped from the spot along with his vehicle. A hunt is on for him.”